Preparing to Write about a Film

An important first step is to identify your own interests before watching a film. Asking a series of questions (such as, Am I drawn to technological issues, or questions about gender?) can help you intellectually interact with the film and help shape the direction of your essay.

Note taking is an essential part of writing about film, because a good analytical essay must produce concrete evidence for your argument. Three general rules of taking notes are:

  1. Take notes on the unusual—events or formal aspects that stand out.
  2. Take notes on events or techniques that recur with regularity.
  3. Take notes on oppositions that appear in the film.

Narrowing your topic will allow you to investigate the issues fully and carefully and therefore produce better writing. Two primary sets of topics for writing about film are formal topics and contextual topics.

Formal topics concentrate on the forms and ideas within a film, and include character analysis, narrative analysis, and stylistic analysis.

Contextual topics relate a film to other films or to surrounding issues, and include comparative analysis and historical or cultural analysis.